Trolley-wire support



(No Model.)

0. T. LEE. I TROLLEY WIRE SUPPORT.

No. 511,853. Patented Jan.2,1894.

" wrrnn S 'ra'rns PATENT @l l lQlEt CHARLES TENNANT LEE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE J OHNS-PRATT COMPANY OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

TROLLEY-Wi RE SU PPORT.

SPEGEFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 51 1,853, dated January 2, 1 894.

Application filed April 15, 1893. Serial No. 470,496. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES TENNANT LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston,in the countyof Sufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supports for Trolleyires for Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

IO In suspending trolley wires for electric railways the wire is secured at intervals by means of cars which are of well-known construction and which are frequently attached thereto by solder, the wire lying in a groove formed in :5 the ear for its reception. The ear in turn is secured by a suitable hanger or similar device to a span wire or other part of the overhead construction. In soldering the wire to the car it is desirable to have some means of temporarily holding the wire in the groove of the car so that the workmen may be free to secure the wire by solder quickly and conveniently. This temporarily holding the trolley wire in place preparatory to and during the process of soldering has been accomplished by means of two projections or lugs which are formed on either side of the groove which receives the wire and after the wire is placed in the groove these projections are 0 bent around it thus holding it temporarily in place. As these projections have hitherto been permanently attached to the car they are left in place and form a transverse ridge or bulge at two points on the wire under- 3 5 neath the car. As these bulges or ridges are in the path of the moving trolley wheel they are apt to cause a spark as the wheel passes them, and this is not desirable. To avoid these projections and at the same time pro- 0 vide a device by means of which the trolley wire may be temporarily held in the groove of the ear preparatory to and while it is being soldered, is the object of my invention.

My device is more fully set forth in the fol- 5 lowing description and the novel features are pointed out in the claims which are appended hereto and form a part hereof.

In the drawings to which reference is made in the following description, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an ear of common form showing a section of trolley wire secured thereto by my device. Fig. 2 is a transverse section showing the position of my securing device before it is bent around the trolley wire. Fig.

3 is a top view of the same. Figs. 4; and 5 are a similar section and top viewrespectively ot a slightly modified form. Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a section and elevation showing in detail a modification.

Having reference to the drawings, A is an ear which may be of any well known form and construction. It is grooved along the lower edge in the usual manner to receive the trolley'wire or electric conductor and is provided at the top with a screw-threaded socket 6 5 or other well known means for securing it to the hanger or overhead support.

The trolley wire is shown at B and the groove in the ear, which receives the trolley wire, at 0.

At either end of the car A I secure a strip of metal cl. This strip of metal is of sufficient length to permit its ends to be turned or bent downwardly around the trolley wire B to hold the trolley wire in place in the groove 0. The strip d is secured to the car A in such manner that after the trolley wire has been soldered to the ear the piece d may be readily removed. To effect this object I secure the piece 01 near the end of the ear and on top thereof by solder. The piece 61 will then occupy the position shown in Fig. 2. After the trolley wire has been soldered to the ear the workmen may straighten out the ends of the piece 61 so as to free them from the trolley 8 wire and then detach the piece d from the car which may be readily done by melting the solder by the use of the soldering iron, after which the piece cl may be removed. By this arrangement the piece at serves its pur- 9o pose of securing the trolley wire in place until it is firmly secured in the process of soldering and the removal of the securing piece is readily effected and the surface of the trolley wire with which the trolley comes in 5 contact is free and unobstructed.

At Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown the strip d secured diagonally on top of the car. This may sometimes be desirable as it prevents the ends of the piece dwhen they are bent under I00 the Wire from coming in contact with each other and tends to hold the trolley wire somewhat more securely in place.

At Figs. 6 and '7 I have shown amoditication which consists in attaching two downwardly projecting pieces or lugs d on opposite sides of the ends of the car A which take the place of the single piece cl shown in the other figures. These pieces d are preferably secured in the same Way by solder so that they may be readily detached by the soldering iron after they have performed their function of securing the trolley wire temporarily in place in the groovein the ear.

The precise character of the material employed for the pieces d, as also the size and shape of the pieces, is not material to my invention,I prefer, however to construct the piece 61 of metal which may be readily bent and to form it in a thin strip as shown.

It will be obvious that instead of using solder to temporarily secure the strips (Z to the ear any other well known means of temporarily securing said strips may be employed and I do not therefore desire to limit my invention to the use of solder only.

What I claim is 1. An ear for electric conductors having one or more strips of metal temporarily attached thereto, and of sufficient length to be bent around the conductor when the latter is in contact with the ear, whereby the conductor may be temporarily held imposition While it is being permanently attached to the ear, and the metallic strips may then be removed, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. An ear for electric conductors provided with one or more metallic strips temporarily secured by solder to the ear, and of sufficient length to be bent around the conductor to hold it to the ear While it is being permanently secured thereto, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. An ear for electric conductors having two metallic strips secured thereto, one on each side of that portion of the ear with which the conductor comes in contact, said strips being of sufficient length to permit them to be bent around the conductor to hold it in place while it is being permanently secured, and being so attached to the ear that they may be readily detached therefrom after the conductor has been permanently secured thereto, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES TENNANT LEE.

Witnesses:

WM. A. MAoLEoD, ROBERT W'ALLAoE. 

